Villanova Men, Women Capture 2019 BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championship Titles
Final Results (PDF) | Individual Event Winners (PDF)
GENEVA, Ohio – The 2019 BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships presented by Jeep finished at Spire Institute on Saturday with both the Villanova men and women defending their team titles. The Wildcat women won by a decisive margin with 194 points, the most points scored in a women’s championship. The next highest was Villanova with 180 points in 1983.
The men’s championship came down to the final event, the men’s high jump. Villanova collected 21.5 points in the high jump, solidifying a 174.5-point championship victory. Marquette finished second with 169.5 points.
The women’s runner-up was DePaul with 118 points. The Blue Demons edged the Marquette Golden Eagles by five points in the end. Marquette made it close by scoring 15 points in the high jump.
The Villanova women won seven individual titles and two relays, while the men won three individual events and two relays.
Georgetown’s Lawrence Leake won three events for the Hoyas as he earned the High Point Performer of the Meet award for the men. Leake helped the Hoyas sweep the podium in the men’s 200-meter race as the sophomore took gold of the meet with a 21.67 finish. Fellow Hoya underclassmen D’Andre Barriffe, a freshman, crossed in 21.73, followed by sophomore Nate Alleyne at 21.80. Earlier in the meet, Leake won the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.48. Leake also ran the anchor leg of the Hoyas’ BIG EAST champion 4x400-meter relay team.
Villanova junior Casey Comber was the unanimous selection for the BIG EAST Men’s Outstanding Performer in Track Events. Comber grabbed 20.5 points for the Wildcat men with a win in the mile, a runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter run and a relay win in the 4x800-meters. Comber and the 4x800 team crossed the tape at 7:28.55.
Butler’s Wade Walder earned the Men’s Most Outstanding Performer in Field Events as he won the Heptathlon with 5,470 points and earned points in the 60-meter hurdles and pole vault. Going into the final event of the heptahtlon, the 1,000-meter run, Walder needed to finish under 2:39 to break the BIG EAST indoor championship record. He finished just around three seconds shy with a finish of 2:41.03.
DePaul senior Kyle Decker ran an 8.12 PR in the 60-meter hurdles to win the event for the fourth-straight year. Decker became the eighth male athlete to win four BIG EAST Indoor Championship titles, the first since 1997 and the first for the Blue Demons.
Teammate Kyle Hedge marked the three-peat in the shot put as he finished with a throw of 16.14 meters. Marquette junior Daniel Armstrong also won his third-straight BIG EAST title, winning the high jump with a height of 2.15 meters.
Other Saturday event winners for the men included Troy Gallen from Villanova in the 60-meter dash (6.86), Georgetown’s Ruach Padhal in the 800-meter run (1:49.08), Butler’s Euan Makepeace in the 3,000-meter run (8:09.13) and Marquette’s William Wolf in triple jump (14.67 meters).
For the women, Villanova sophomore Trudy-Ann Williamson won both the Women’s Most Outstanding Performer in Track Events and the Women’s High Point Performer of the Meet. Williamson won both sprinting events for the Wildcats. She defended her title in the 60-meter dash, breaking the tape at 7.42 seconds. Williamson also won the 200 at 24.13.
Williamson shared her award for Most Outstanding Performer in Track Events with Providence’s Brianna Ilarda. Ilarda won the 5,000-meter run (16:47.35) and finished runner-up in the 3,000-meter run behind her teammate Millie Paladino. Illarda finished at 9:26.34 behind Paladino’s 9:24.39. Paladino won the 3K in 2018 as well.
DePaul senior Jade Nolan was named the Most Outstanding Performer in Field Events as she took home gold in both the long jump and triple jump. With 20 points on those event wins, she also tied with Williamson for High Point Performer of the Meet. Nolan won the long jump with a distance of 5.67 meters and the triple jump with a jump of 12.36 meters.
Also winning two events in the women’s championship was Villanova senior Sammy Bockoven. She helped the Wildcats win both the distance medley relay and the 800-meter relay.
DePaul senior Alexia Brooks defended her title in the 60-meter hurdles with a 8.30 finish, .03 seconds faster than last season.
Other Saturday event winners for the women were DePaul’s Kiersten Walker in the 4000-meter (55.07), Villanova’s McKenna Keegan in the 800-meter run (2:07.08), Villanova’s Rachel McArthur in the mile (4:58.14) and Sanaa Barnes in the high jump (1.77 meters) and St. John’s Amarys Berry in the shot put (14.67 meters). The Red Storm also won the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:42.59.
Next up for the BIG EAST track and field student-athletes is the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships which will be held March 8-9 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
Final Women’s Team Results (18 Events Scored)
1. Villanova – 194 points
2. DePaul – 118
3. Marquette – 113
4. St. John’s – 87
5. Butler – 60
6. Georgetown – 54
7. Providence – 51
8. Xavier – 20
Final Men’s Team Results (18 events Scored)
1. Villanova – 174.5 points
2. Marquette – 169.5
3. Georgetown – 114
4. Butler – 95
5. DePaul – 88
6. Providence – 33
7. Xavier – 17
2019 BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Awards
Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year: Villanova *
Men’s Most Outstanding Performer in Field Events: Wade Walder, Butler *
Men’s Most Outstanding Performer in Track Events: Casey Comber, Villanova *
Men’s High Point Performer of the Meet: Lawrence Leake, Georgetown (22.5 points)
Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year: Villanova *
Women’s Most Outstanding Performer in Field Events: Jade Nolan, DePaul *
Women’s Most Outstanding Co-Performers in Track Events: Brianna Illarda, Providence & Trudy-Ann Williamson, Villanova
Women’s High Point Co-Performers of the Meet: Jade Nolan, DePaul & Trudy-Ann Williamson, Villanova (20 points)
* denotes unanimous selection
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